Abstract

The heterogeneity of a substance is estimated by a new integrated scintillation spectral method. This method involves the division of a weighed sample into smaller parts and determination of the chemical elements in each microportion. Elementwise heterogeneity of microportions and phase heterogeneity of the substance characterizing the variations in contents of chemical elements in microportions and occurrence of different phase heterogeneities in the matrix and alien phases in the substance are studied. The substance heterogeneity estimation method is applied in the investigation of powder geological samples with direct atomic emission spectral analysis as an analytical method.